LAKELAND, Fla.—The Southeastern softball team notched wins 20 and 21 on the season with 3-1 and 8-0 victories over West Virginia Tech on Tuesday.
The two games featured contrasting styles of play- the first more of a pitchers’ duel and the second an offensive eruption from the Fire.
In game one, Ashley Appell dealt a strong seven innings from inside the circle. After giving up an unearned run in the top of the fist, the freshman responded by shutting down the Golden Bears at the plate.
Appell (11-5) only allowed two hits over the next five innings, providing Southeastern with adequate time to take the lead.
Ramsey Sullivan delivered RBI hits in the second and sixth frames to give Appell enough offensive help. Sullivan doubled down the left field line, which scored Kristin Mihalic in the second, while singling in Brianna Perez to make it 3-1 SEU in the sixth. Sullivan was the only player in the game to record multiple hits.
After loading the bases with no one out in the seventh, Appell got a much-needed strikeout, her sixth of the contest. Lauren Watters then doubled off a Golden Bear runner at first following a line out to secure the team’s 20th win.
Though there was a slight lack of offense in the first competition, the Fire started the second contest with a bang.
Following singles by Haleigh Harrell and Sam Holcomb, Brandee Pietrzak sent a ball rolling to the right field wall, advancing all the way to third and scoring both baserunners in the process. The triple, which marked the first such hit of the senior’s remarkable career, put Southeastern up 2-0 in the first.
Harrell then followed suit in the third, taking three bases of her own and scoring Heather Faulk to give SEU a 3-0 advantage.
Pietrzak, who finished a home run away from the cycle on the day, brought Harrell around for the second time in the competition with a double.
In the fourth, the Fire collected four more runs on four hits, doubling their advantage over the Golden Bears.
Kiah Ferrell added to Southeastern’s four-run lead with a no-doubter to straightaway center. With the blast, the sophomore took over the outright team-lead for home runs with five.
Faulk then doubled in Britt Robinson, making it a 6-0 contest. The first extra base hit of the year by Faulk set the stage for Shelby Lansing. Lansing delivered a two-out two-RBI base knock, which drove in Faulk and Harrell and initiated the eight-run mercy rule heading into the fifth.
WVUT needed a run in the top of the fifth to extend the game, but were unable to get it thanks to Dayna McDonald.
McDonald stunted the Golden Bears’ offense, pitching a complete game three-hitter. The freshman from Merritt Island, Florida collected the first win of her collegiate career, forcing 11 groundouts in 19 total batters faced in the stellar performance.
The second competition of the day marked the sixth time this season Southeastern defeated an opponent in less than seven innings.
The Fire will take the field Wednesday against No. 21 Grand View for a home doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.